“Imposing the tariffs “is really a Trumpian power grab…and so far there’s been no objection from the Congress and no lawsuits filed. Trump is imposing these tariffs because he feels he can get away with imposing them and they play to his base who really long for an economic dictator to run things. If nobody objects then he will claim even more powers over the economy.”

“What does Kim Jong-un want?” That is the question that still plagues intelligence officials. “Six years after Mr. Kim took power and began executing those who challenged his rule…there is no issue that confounds analysts more than the motives of a 33-year-old dictator whose every move seems one part canny strategy, one part self-preservation, and one part nuclear narcissism.”

“Tensions are reaching a dangerous pitch on the Korean Peninsula, testing the leadership of South Korea’s new president, Moon Jae-in…. In effect, Mr. Moon finds himself pincered between two rival powers, China and the United States, while facing an existential threat from the dictator next door.”

President Trump said “that he would be ‘honored’ to meet with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un under the right circumstances, the latest in a series of odd moves that suggest Trump may still not grasp the power and signal-sending of such a gathering.” Meeting with Kim Jong Un, the Philippines’ Duterte or other dictators creates the wrong optics. “The visuals are all to the good for these men. It puts them on equal footing with the leader of the most powerful nation in the world…. It’s odd that someone as image conscious as Trump doesn’t get that.”

“Nothing significant happens in Russia, and no action is taken by Russia, without the knowledge of the man who has held total power there for 17 years, first as president and later as unchallenged dictator.” Putin has essentially “eliminated every form of real political and social opposition in Russia.” In short, the United States “doesn’t have a problem with Russia — it has a problem with Putin.”

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari “is repeating an economic error he made as dictator 30 years ago.” To avoid devaluation, he has instead thrown limits on imports, creating scarcity that “will be even more inflationary. A weaker currency would spur domestic production more than import bans can and, in the long run, hurt consumers less. The country needs foreign capital to finance its deficits but, under today’s policies, it will struggle to get any.”

“Put yourself in Kim Jong Un’s Gucci loafers. Your economy is in worse shape than usual, you’re unsure of your grip on power, and you’ve recently executed your fourth defense minister in three years. What’s a young dictator to do?” With the restart of his nuclear reactor, Kim Jong Un may be “angling for his own version of Iran’s nuclear deal,” especially since he knows that once an agreement is reached, “he can then violate it at will without paying too steep a price.”

Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew “was the democratic world’s favorite dictator.” Despite his virtues, he was “demonstrably unwise about democracy in Asia. While he was touting supposedly unique Asian values incompatible with liberal Western norms, Taiwan, South Korea and Indonesia became robust democracies and prospered economically.”

“Despite his failings, and there were plenty, President Mohamed Morsi was Egypt’s first democratically elected leader, and his overthrow by the military on Wednesday was unquestionably a coup. It would be tragic if Egyptians allowed the 2011 revolution that overthrew the dictator Hosni Mubarak to end with this rejection of democracy.”